Thursday, 27 December 2012

Amateur dramatics

I`m such an idiot sometimes!

Yesterdays mini thaw, was joined by today's deep freeze. This made the roads really scary. I broke with my front disk brake going over some washboard ice and fell flat on my face and bent my front mudguard so it dragged on my wheel which I just bent back in a manner of fashion. The nice thing about ice is that it is really forgiving if one should have hiccup. No damage to me or clothing as I slid about 10 metres on my side.

Anyway, it gave me a scare so I took the rest of the day gingerly. The roads were very icy so I had to keep my bum firmly on the saddle on the climbs for traction and what turned out to be 60km`s of washboard gave my wrists and bum a real pounding....So i`m sitting on one cheek while I type.

I had a few scary moments and I used these as photo opportunities. The weather was gorgeous, the sun was out, the wind was kind and the temperature varied from -7 Celsius down to around -9 Celsius in the shade.

Like I said, I took loads of pictures, so without further ad do, here they are.

Late start, same ritual.

Bent front mudguard. These Lake winter shoes are a godsend. Today I used Rapha`s deep winter tights, as I normally do all winter.

Mugshot. I was really pleased I got a shot of the gnarled bumpy ice created by the ploughs with snow chains.

The largest dilemma of the day was, do I (a) stick my freezing water bottle up my jacket to prevent it from freezing or (b) just don't drink. I opted for the latter and ended up with a headache. Doh!

All in all, I just plodded around taking photos and enjoying the beautiful weather today. Now I`m at the halfway point, and really hoping I can complete the challenge. Well happy. The strava log for today is Here.

2 comments:

Awesome pictures! I got the Bontrager mug that fits in your cage for Christmas. http://store.trekbikes.com/product/trek+soho+commuter+mug.do Filled it with hot tea on my cold ride and worked awesome. I'm only dealing with 30 degree temps. Looks much colder where you live. Good luck with the Festive 500!